At The End of All Things
by 2wingo
Summary: The war was won, Chris was defeated, and Mindy was happy. All that was left to do was to end. AU of Makokam's "Only Her" universe. Rated for heavy emotional content.


_**(A/N: I have FINALLY read "Kick-Ass 2 Prelude: Hit-Girl." And I have to say, while I find "Precocious Crush" to be much, much more satisfying, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to get through. The scenes with Chris were pretty damn funny. You may now discuss events contained therein in your reviews. Please do not include spoilers for KA2 proper (either the movie or the comics) or KA3 yet. Please Read & Review.)**_

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A log split in the fireplace, the only source of light or heat in the cold house. A bluesy Alison Krauss song played over the speakers in the corner. A muted television set showed the same news clips that had been playing for the last few days. Finally, the house's single occupant reached his gloved hand over to the tray by the chair he sat in and used the remotes to turn off first the TV and then the music.

Three days ago, Dave Lizewski a.k.a. Kick-Ass, had participated in the final assault upon supervillain crime-lord Chris D'Amico a.k.a. The Motherfucker, aided by his best friend and partner Mindy MacCready a.k.a. Hit-Girl and a new member of Justice Forever, Hassan Argyros a.k.a. the Janissary.

The war against Chris had finally been won, but even in victory Dave had lost the thing he considered more precious than anything on Earth: Mindy's love.

Dave had hoped against hope that, with The Motherfucker dead, Mindy would finally be able to truly heal from the wounds of her father's death, and there would finally be a chance for them to have the relationship he'd desired for so long. It was not to be.

In the post-victory jubilation back at Justice Forever's headquarters, every single superhero in New York had gathered to celebrate the death of NYC's most notorious crime boss. Dave had searched for Mindy among the revelers, hoping to talk to her alone and see what this would mean for their future together. He found her and Janissary, pressed against the wall, kissing with a passion. He said nothing, did nothing, thought nothing for several seconds before turning and walking away.

That was two days ago. In that time, he had sequestered himself in the one place he was certain that no one, not Mindy nor his friends nor any of their teammates, would think to look for him: Katie Deauxma's house.

When they had still been dating, Katie told him of the trips to southern France she took with her parents for three weeks around this time of year. She had shown him where her parents kept a key hidden on the front porch so he could let himself in to see her without risking waking them. It was the perfect hiding place.

So now he sat, staring at the fire. His eyes were red from lack of sleep, his cheeks waxy from lack of food, his hair and skin greasy with dried sweat, and his still-open wounds aching. He'd finally made his decision. Reaching into a little-used pouch on his belt, Dave withdrew his Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 38.

In retrospect, he was surprised that it taken him this long to realize that this was the only ending that made sense. Big Daddy, Bianca, Marty, all the innocent people who had lost their lives under Chris's reign of terror, all of them had suffered or died because of failure to act that night at Frank D'Amico's penthouse and kill Chris when he'd had the chance.

"You did the best you could to make amends," he said aloud for the first time since yesterday, "It just wasn't anywhere near good enough." For a while he tried to convince himself that by continuing to live and work as Kick-Ass, he could ultimately save more people than had been lost, that he could eventually do enough good to cleanse his hands of the blood on them, but he quickly realized that this was bullshit. What had happened to those people had happened, and nothing could ever make it go away.

But he could still live with that. In fact, Dave was sure he could have found the strength to live through just about anything, as long as he had Mindy to give him strength. He had clung to the hope that maybe they COULD have a future someday, when she was old enough that their age difference didn't matter. Besides, he was part of her support system, her guide through a world she still didn't understand very well. She still needed him.

Only, she didn't. Not anymore. She had made her own friends, gotten two boyfriends (three, if she started dating Hassan, which was probably a given), and was navigating the treacherous waters of high school all on her own. Mindy, it seemed, was going to be just fine.

"And that's all I need to know," whispered Dave. He ejected the five .38 hollow points, closed the cylinder, and dry-fired it six times to ensure that it was in proper working order. He then opened it, inserted a single cartridge, spun the cylinder and flicked it closed.

Dave had never been exceptionally religious, but he truly believed that everything happened for a reason, and that God would ultimately give everyone exactly what they deserved. Keeping that in mind, he knelt down to pray for, perhaps, the last time.

"Heavenly Father," he intoned, "Please watch over Mindy. Let her find happiness and fulfillment all the days of life. Let her love and be loved by someone who will see her as I see her, someone who can give her all the love I wanted to give her. Bless her, Lord, for she is a wonderful, special girl, and will have much to offer the world if only given the chance. Amen."

Dave sat back down, feeling something akin to peace for the first time in days. He picked up the revolver and pressed the muzzle to the underside of his chin. One pull of the trigger would decide his fate now. Either he would die and pay for his sins now, or he would continue to live, desperately trying to atone for his failures with the girl he loved more than life itself always at arm's length.

He slipped his finger inside the trigger guard as tears leaked out of his eyes. He took one last, long breath, and squeezed.

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_**(A/N: What happened, you may ask? I think I'll let you decide for yourselves. File this fic under "stuff I had to get out of my head to make room for things I really WANT to write." Please Review.)**_


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